It's all too easy to look at the bottom line when thinking about Blake Edwards' '10' and to over-simplify it. Yes it is a film about mid-life crisis. Yes it does feature Dudley Moore and yes it did catapault Bo Derek to international stardom. However, what this over-simplification misses is the sheer delight this film gives if you give in to the 70s kitsch which oozes out of every frame.
From 8-track tapes to 70s swingers music, this film has a rich flavour.
Perhaps more importantly, '10' is a film about performances. Dudley Moore sat at a piano in a mexican hotel bar playing "It's Easy to Say" is mesmerizing. The fact that this was filmed live in one-take and that the tune was written by Henri Mancini should be enough to explain the quality of this film. Put Blake Edwards, Dudley Moore, a Henry Mancini tune and a piano together and you can't help but create magic.
Blake Edwards' gift is to create movies where the audience forget they are watching a movie. He relies on performance rather than cinematic trickery and the result, in the case of '10', is perhaps one of the most beautifully relaxed and easy films to watch ever created.
A pure classic to watch again and again.
See, I didn't even talk about the stunning Bo Derek...
